Page:Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1st ed, 1833, vol III).djvu/24

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§ 1111. next power of congress is "to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures."

§ 1112. Under the confederation, the continental congress had delegated to them, "the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the states," and "fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United States." It is observable, that, under the confederation, there was no power given to regulate the value of foreign coin, an omission, which in a great measure would destroy any uniformity in the value of the current coin, since the respective states might, by different regulations, create a different value in each. The constitution has, with great propriety, cured this defect; and, indeed, the whole clause, as it now stands, does not seem to have attracted any discussion in the convention. It has been justly remarked, that the power "to coin money" would, doubtless, include that of regulating its value, had the latter power not been expressly inserted. But the constitution abounds with pleonasms and repetitions of this nature.

§ 1113. The grounds, upon which the general power to coin money, and regulate the value of foreign and